ลาย

Thai

Etymology

From Proto-Southwestern Tai *laːjᴬ⁴ (marked; variegated; striped), from Proto-Tai *C̬.laːjᴬ (marking; patterns).[1]

Cognate with Northern Thai ᩃᩣ᩠ᨿ, Lao ລາຍ (lāi), ᦟᦻ (laay), Tai Dam ꪩꪱꪥ, Shan လၢႆး (láai), Tai Nüa ᥘᥣᥭᥰ (läay), Phake လ︀ႝ (lay), Ahom 𑜎𑜩 (lay), Zhuang raiz (pattern; pockmark) and laiz (ditto) (dialectal).

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemicลาย
l ā y
RomanizationPaiboonlaai
Royal Institutelai
(standard) IPA(key)/laːj˧/(R)

Noun

ลาย • (laai)

  1. design; pattern

Adjective

ลาย • (laai) (abstract noun ความลาย)

  1. marked
  2. variegated
  3. striped

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle Khmer: លាយ (lāya)

References

  1. ^ Pittayaporn, Pittayawat (2009) The Phonology of Proto-Tai (Doctoral dissertation)‎[1], Department of Linguistics, Cornell University , page 340

Further reading

  • ลาย” in Thai Dictionary Project (TDP) (UC Berkeley 1964) (plus additional data from the Royal Institute of Thailand (RI) and NECTEC's LEXITRON project (LEX)). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.